Defense Expert: Ukraine Can Win If US Provides Equipment It Wants

The Russian-backed rebels in Ukraine could be defeated in as little as three weeks if the United States would supply them with equipment they have been begging for, a defense strategist tells Fox News Channel.

Philip Karber, former strategic adviser to former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, told Fox News Channel's "The Kelly File" on Wednesday that Ukraine has been asking for equipment to jam Russian anti-aircraft weaponry.

Karber said that even if the United States had granted the request, it likely wouldn't have arrived in time to prevent the shootdown of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 last week, which killed 298 people. Still, he said, the quicker the equipment is granted, the faster Ukraine can win the fighting.

Right now, he said, Ukrainians are "flying blind."

There are suspicions that the Ukrainian army has been infiltrated by Russia, but Karber said the United States could supply decades-old technology such as mini-AWACs it is retiring instead of putting them "in the bone yard."

Rep. Duncan Hunter told host Megyn Kelly that Ukraine needs the equipment to send Russian President Vladimir Putin a strong message. Putin understands only force and "needs to get punched in the nose," Hunter said.

The FAA also should have banned flights over the area, Hunter said, and the fact that it didn't shows that the agency and the intelligence community are not communicating.